Well, I’m feeling more strongly all the time that we’re experiencing our own re-enactment of that funny little children’s story. In that fable, a lot of the barnyard citizens were spooked at first, and the alarm did spread. But by and by, older and wiser creatures spoke up, and by and by, everybody calmed down and resumed their bucolic life.

Some months ago, while driving back home from an engagement, I became fascinated with George Noory’s late night radio interview with a solar physicist, one of a number of very dedicated scientists who actually watch and analyze the sun itself and its ongoing powerful effects on planet Earth.

This was after former Vice President Al Gore had sounded his alarm in nation after nation about his belief that we’re all in serious, imminent danger from global warming. And while the main topic of discussion on Noory’s program that night was the remarkable list of prophecies recorded by ancient Aztecs from centuries ago – gleaned somehow from their study and even worship of the sun – the guest scientist brought up the concern solar physicists share about “new, unexplained activity and disturbances” on the surface of that giant fireball in space!

And then he went on to tell his host quite assertively, “This warming in our polar regions, and in other places on this planet, is not unprecedented at all. It has been recorded in other centuries and appears to be linked of course to activity on the sun, our source of heat and light. And while it’s good to consider how to conserve Earth’s resources and use them wisely, it’s not realistic to think that some rising temperatures in arctic regions and even in our vast seas is attributable to man’s use of fossil fuel and resulting carbon emissions. Men’s actions can and do affect his local environment, but neither man nor machine is powerful enough to seriously disturb our global ecology or our weather patterns. No, the sun itself is the culprit – and we’re studying again the ancient Aztec prediction that the year we call 2012 will see cataclysmic changes on our Earth, and throughout the solar system.”

I have yet to acquire the book “2012″ mentioned that night, but I bring all this up here because of what I’ve been reading from Dr. S. Fred Singer, representing an organization called CFACT – the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow. Singer is also a scientist – an atmospheric physicist to be exact – and professor emeritus at the University of Virginia. And professor Singer begs to differ, and differ deeply, with Al Gore.

Oh, he doesn’t deny at all that global warming exists. In fact, he recently co-wrote a book called “Unstoppable Global Warning: Every 1,500 Years.” And he, along with a lot of his fellow scientists, substantiate that climate change is a natural phenomenon, that it happens to varying degrees all the time and that warming cycles just like the one we’re experiencing now have happened many times in the past.

He points out that the universal climate warmed steadily between 1900 and 1940, before humanity was using so much energy. But then, climate cooled noticeably from 1940 to 1975 – warming again for a short period of time – and since 2000 the best measurements show that the climate has been remaining steady. Yes, for the last three or four years, there have been curious localized melting ice deposits, but the overall average temperature of the Earth has changed less than a degree.

There’s way too much in Dr. Singer’s studies to recount here, but my thanks for such an eye-opening goes to CFACT – a nonprofit, strictly non-partisan group, based in Washington, D.C. It was created in 1985 to offer a constructive, fact-based voice on consumer and environmental issues – way before the world began to hear about “global warning.” And more wonderful than just having the scientific facts at their disposal, they created in 2001 a student-run organization called Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow, which is now operating on more than 20 college and university campuses in nine states.

As this organization grows, CFACT collegians from New York to Oregon are sponsoring debates, handing out fact sheets in student centers and sharing concrete information with fellow students. Through discussions, literature, invited speakers and events, they’re asking the tough questions about the “science” behind Al Gore’s much-publicized “warming” scare.

They’re causing young people by the thousands, as they prepare to take leadership roles in our future, to consider at least 3,000 years of history in which civilizations suffered through cold periods – like the “Little Ice Age” from around 1400 to 1850, when crops failed, people starved and froze, and disease was more deadly. And they learn of the “medieval warm period” around 1100, when temperatures were at least as hot as they are now, maybe hotter. During this time the Vikings discovered Greenland and grew crops there. Life was good in Europe, cathedrals were built, wars and violence decreased, and people generally prospered. And that historical record shows that a warmer period is far better for human beings than a colder one.

I, for one, am grateful to find out about Dr. Singer and about CFACT and its collegiate campaign. I hope you’ll visit www.cfact.org and www.cfactcampus.org and be dazzled as I was with what they present. Perhaps you’ll join me in contributing to the growth of their campaign across our nation. Though many Americans are justifiably concerned about current and future climate conditions, there are those in high positions who want to convince us that human beings are the culprits … and that radical elite influence must bring governments to curtail and control our lifestyle.

As always, facts are our friends. We’d do well to gather as many as possible from the most reliable sources. If we substitute fables in their place, we will forever deserve our children’s scorn.